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The California firefighting community is mourning the loss of one of their own after 49-year-old Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi was found stabbed to death in her Ramona home last month – a crime that took an even more disturbing turn when her own wife, Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, became the prime suspect and fled to Mexico.
Marodi, a decorated fire captain who had recently helped battle the Eaton fire near Los Angeles, met a horrifying end on February 17 in what authorities describe as a brutal domestic violence incident. Heartbreaking home surveillance footage obtained by investigators shows the final moments of Marodi’s life, with audio capturing her desperate pleas: “Yolanda! Please…! I don’t want to die!” before appearing on camera with blood on her back.
The couple had been married for just over two years – a union that ended in unimaginable violence. According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, surveillance video from earlier that evening shows Olejniczak Marodi, 53, arguing with and physically assaulting her wife before the fatal stabbing occurred.
After the alleged attack, Olejniczak Marodi was captured on camera methodically packing items into a silver SUV before crossing the border into Mexico that same night, beginning a month-long manhunt. The search ended Saturday when Mexican authorities arrested her at a Mexicali hotel, just south of the U.S. border.
This wasn’t Olejniczak Marodi’s first violent encounter. The Los Angeles Times reports she served nearly a decade in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the 2000 stabbing death of her then-husband, James Joseph Olejniczak.
The firefighting community has been shaken by the loss of Captain Marodi, remembered as a dedicated public servant. “Rebecca represented the very best of Cal Fire,” said a colleague who asked to remain anonymous. “To lose her this way, in her own home, is just devastating.”
As Olejniczak Marodi awaits booking in San Diego, many questions remain unanswered about what led to this tragic violence. The case highlights the often-overlooked issue of domestic violence in same-sex relationships and serves as a grim reminder that heroism at work doesn’t always guarantee safety at home.
For now, colleagues and loved ones focus on honoring Marodi’s memory while awaiting justice in a case that has left the tight-knit firefighting community reeling. The investigation continues as authorities piece together the events of that fatal February night.
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